Two suicide bombers blew themselves up this Sunday, in a historic Christian Church, located in north western Pakistan causing the deaths and injuries of many! The culprits have identified themselves as apart of the Pakistani Taliban, Hit the jump for more detail!
Disorder broke out this Sunday as two men set off two suicide bombs killing themselves, 78 others, and injuring overall 141 during Sunday Worship in the Christian based All Saints Church. The attack occurred as the worshippers began exiting the church heading towards the lawn to get a free meal of rice offered after services when suddenly the assault occurred!
NPR reports: “The Jundullah arm of the Taliban said they would continue to target non-Muslims until the United States stopped drone attacks in Pakistan’s remote tribal region. The latest drone strike came Sunday, when missiles hit a pair of compounds in the North Waziristan tribal area, killing six suspected militants”
Ahmad Marwat, who identified himself as the spokesman for the Jundullah wing of the Pakistani Taliban says he is responsible for the planned assault, and responded to the drone strike by attacking the Christian minority church leaving 78 dead included 34 women and seven children.
“There were blasts and there was hell for all of us,” said Nazir John, who was at the church in the city’s Kohati Gate district along with at least 400 other worshippers. “When I got my senses back, I found nothing but smoke, dust, blood and screaming people. I saw severed body parts and blood all around.”
The number of casualties from the blasts was reportedly so extreme that “the hospital ran short of caskets for the dead and beds for the wounded, said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, a former information minister of surrounding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province who was on the scene”
“This is the deadliest attack against Christians in our country,” said Irfan Jamil, the bishop of the eastern city of Lahore.
“Pope Francis led several thousand people in a prayer for the victims while on a visit to Sardinia. Those who carried out the attack, he said, “took the wrong choice, one of hatred and war.”
One of the wounded, John Tariq, who lost his father in the attack, distraught, asked those behind the bombing: “What have we done wrong to these people? Why are we being killed?”
“All non-Muslims in Pakistan are our target, and they will remain our target as long as America fails to stop drone strikes in our country,” Marwat told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location.
The bishop in Peshawar, Sarfarz Hemphray, announced a 3 day mourning period and placed blame on the government and security agencies “for failing to protect the country’s Christians”
“If the government shows will, it can control this terrorism,” said Hemphray. “We have been asking authorities to enhance security, but they haven’t paid any heed.”
